One-Pot Butternut & Cabbage Stew

Hi, this is David! Luise will soon tell you about this recipe of hers and we also have a little quick video of it, but I just wanted to mention one thing before we get all warm and cosy. If you are reading this on a Safari browser, our typography has probably turned all bold and ugly on you. I am so sorry about that! It really hurts my design eyes to see our site like this. During our six years of blogging, we have never changed the design of this blog. We have always loved the design and felt like it has become part of our blogs identity, but the theme that we built our site on has been outdated for a very long time and we have managed to keep it alive with band-aids and chewing gum. However, I am not sure if we can keep this design much longer; the typography is acting like a confused teenager, the site loads slowly, is not very mobile or printer friendly and my web skills can’t seem to fix all this. So bare with us while we are figuring out how this blog should transform into a more user friendly version. It will probably look ugly for a while but change is on its way! (PS! We are looking for a super-talented and design minded web wizard. Email me at: hello@greenkitchenstories.com). Over to you Luise!

The first morning frost has arrived and Stockholm has turned into a beautiful multi coloured autumn city. It is cold and sunny but daylight hours are quickly slipping away. The shorter days mean more time inside with warming teas, candle lights and large batches of slow-cooking food with hearty flavors, nourishing ingredients and lots of herbs.

This dish embraces autumn ingredients like butternut pumpkin, cabbage and apples, and the combination of rice and beans gives you a complete source of protein. If you live in a different climate or time-zone, you can combine any kind of grains and legumes with whatever vegetables the season is offering.

Comforting one-pot meals are cheap, no fuss-family dinners that often last for a couple of days. Not to mention how easy they are. With only one-pot simmering on the stove, you both save dishes and don’t have to focus on keeping track of several pots with different cooking times. If you soak the grains and beans in the morning, you’re set to cook everything for dinner. Apart from the general health aspects of pre-soaking grains, I have found that it’s extra important in one-pot meals, since the rice don’t dilute the colour of the stew as much when it is pre-soaked.

We also created this little one-minute video to show how easily this dish is assembled. Hope you like it. Remember to subscribe to our youtube channel for more recipe videos.

One-Pot Pumpkin, Cabbage & Rice StewServes 4–6

We have kept the flavours quite simple in this stew and instead add extra herbs and diced apple as a fresh twist right before serving it. I imagine mushrooms and tomatoes would be a delicious addition in this stew too. You can also try a bolder choice of spices or other type of grains and legumes. You can even throw in a piece of parmesan rind as it simmers to add a nice umami flavour to the stew (just remember to remove it before serving).
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp coconut oil, ghee or olive oil
1 butternut squash/pumpkin or hokkaido pumpkin3 sprigs rosemary, bash them a few times with the end of a knife1 organic lemon, zest and juice1 small head of cabbage1 cup uncooked whole grain rice, pre-soaked1 cup uncooked black eyed peas, pre-soakedwater to cover, approx. 6 cups / 1 1/2 liter1 tbsp vegetable bouillon powder (with no added MSG)3 dried bay leavessea salt and pepper, to taste

In the morning: Place whole grain rice and black eyed peas in two separate bowls, cover with (filtered) water and let soak for 8-12 hours. Then drain and rinse and they are ready to be used in the recipe.

Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Prepare the pumpkin; peel it, divide it in half and scoop out the seeds. Then chop it into cubes. Heat oil in a large pot, add onion, garlic and rosemary sprigs, let fry for a minute or so, stirring occasionally. Add the cubed pumpkin and lemon zest and stir to combine. Slice the cabbage, discard the stem. Add cabbage, soaked and rinsed whole grain rice and black eyed peas, water, bouillon, bay leaves, salt and pepper to the pot and stir around to combine everything. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let cook for 45-60 minutes. Check every now and then to see if more water is needed and gently stir around. It is ready to serve when the rice and peas are very tender. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yogurt, fresh parsley and chopped apples.

Wow, this looks fantastic! Just the thing to use the last of the pumpkins as we head into spring into New Zealand. I had to giggle at your cute colder-climate mini-cabbage – I’ve never seen one that small! I must remember to adjust the recipe for our humungous New Zealand cabbages:).

We had the first frost here in Germany yesterday – and the prospect of having a warm bowl of stew after a long day at uni is kind of what keeps me going. Never tried a pumpkin cabbage combo though ;-) well I guess it’s time! Hope you get the website problems fixed soon – it’s so annoying if it seems right in the code but won’t work for whatever reason.. fingers crossed!

I’ve never combined butternut with cabbage, but it sounds wonderful! What a wonderful stew to start off this Fall. Good luck on the web design — your site has always been so beautiful and user-friendly.

Looks very nice. Looking forward making it. Louise, what are you doing with the rosemary in the video? Crushing it? I never did that befor? Does it brings out the flavours? I will try it in the recipe. Thanks and good luck with updating the back-end.

Hello David + Luise,
I absolutely love your recipes and your incorporation of video. My boys love them too! Quick comment here: At the end of this video an advertisement for Famous Dave’s “Award Winning BBQ” popped up on my screen. I have no idea if that is something you are able to control (might just be targeting advertisements from YouTube), but factory farmed meat (which is repulsing and revolting to me) seems like a very odd pairing considering your philosophy and incorporation of healthful, seasonal and vegetarian ingredients. I’m working on blocking those sorts of promotions. Just an FYI. Be well! Your blog posts are a bright spot on the internet!

Your blog displays beautifully on my computer. One thing I wish you would add though is a print button for printing out your recipes. this one looks divine and I have all ingredients so am trying this recipe tomorrow.

I saw the YouTube video for this recipe and it was so well-filmed and edited! Your photography and filmmaking style is so beautiful and simple! I have to say–you’re one of my favorite blogs ever!
This pumpkin stew looks incredibly delicious and healthy! I have to try it with some sweet potato, tomatoes and broccoli!

lovely! looking forward to making this. as for the web, try out squarespace, its very user friendly, well designed formats with lots of features. you can also code for any extra features you would like. best wishes. love your food!

I love the flavor combinations in this dish! And David, I am using Safari and your site looks beautiful. No strange typography or bold lettering. Everything loads perfectly and looks great. Sorry for all of the troubles you are experiencing. I know how frustrating it can be!

Hello, Could you please let me know an easy way to print your recipes. I just printed your luscious One-Pot Butternut And Cabbage Stew, and it printed many pages some of which I didn’t need. All I wanted was the recipe itself and not the pictures, etc. Need help. I have your book and think it beautiful. Thank you for the many healthy recipes. Peace and blessings, Jeanette

What a lovely warming recipe for a cold day, this time of year is such an adjustment and a stew like that, ready when we get back from a walk, would go down SO well! I love that you’re using cabbage too, such a wonderful and under-rated vegetable, cheap and nutritious :)

since you guys said that the website act weird on safari, I tried to read this post there. But it’s actually perfect for me, and the only problem I see it’s on Chrome. Not even on Firefox, chrome. It’s a minor thing, just a few more space between words here and there. Nothing weird :)
But I know how does it feel to have the same blog design for years, and actually trying to keep it alive with all of your capabilities (which, in my case, are none). i’m switching to Cargo, it’s easier to use and user friendly, lots of designers/illustrators/photographers are using it right now, and I’m jumping on board too.

Hi David and Luise don’t worry, it’s looking pretty ok at the moment and I for one am here for your utterly delicious recipes and beautiful stories. A little typeface won’t be getting in the way of all the enjoyment :-). Ooh, I’m dreading frost, got pumpkins still in the garden and need a few weeks grace!

AMAZING!! It’s snowing here in Chamonix so this was the perfect dinner meal. I whipped this up today while the snow fell outside. I loved the idea of putting some parmesan rind in the stew, it tasted so fine! Thank you!

One pot stew is where it’s at for me right now, yours looks so beautiful. And I’m sure your new site design will be fantastic, you both have such wonderful taste, it’ll be an adventure, once you get out of the tech bog :)

The site looks great to me and I’m using safari. I can understand how frustrating it might be to have the site look ugly lol This dish looks beautiful! I make a similar stew/soup but with root veggies and buttercup squash and love a thick stew! Hopefully I can give this one a try :)

Thanks for another great food post. This is a bit off-topic but hope you don’t mind…. We’re heading to Melbourne soon and we’re wondering if you have any tips for finding places to stay while we’re there? It looks like you guys found some cool places on your travels last year :)

we had this stew last weekend and it was as good as the fotos promised
and i had to order an cast iron pot to cook this stew again and again
because i love these one pot wonders
next time i try to add the mushrooms because i think it will fit this stew
thank you for all your inspirations
lg birgit

This looks like the perfect recipe for those cold Sunday afternoons! This is a must try for me. Been trying to eat healthy and with mostly farm fresh produce and as organic as I am able. Natalie Winch has a book called Ditching the Drive-Thru and is has been the catalyst that has put me on the path of better eating and the difference it makes is amazing. I recommend her book, the site for it is http://spikehornpress.com/product/ditching-the-drive-thru/ and it is WELL WORTH THE READ!!

Hi there :)
I tried your recipe tonight and it was delicious! A fantastic winter meal + I think it is great to have something that can 90% be made from local produce!
…And by the way, I think the lemon juice is missing in the instructions, after you mentioned it in the ingredients.

This was a revelation!
My pot was too small to add all the peas, so I cooked these in some organic chicken broth in a smaller pot on the side.
Final dish:
The soup/stew, topped with delicious chickeny peas, with a lovely finish of extra virgin olive oil.

Just tried this recipe this evening and it was delicious. The lemon zest and parsley really add something special. It also wasn’t very time consuming to prepare which is a plus with a 2 and a 4 year old. Will repeat ;)

What happens if you don’t pre-soak the rice and beans please???
Thanks as always for the wonderful recipes and we bought my partner’s mum your book which she absolutely loves! She’s working her way through it from beginning to end.
All the best :)